BP spokesman: Hey, sorry about that "small people" comment

Toby Odone, a spokesman for BP, told The Associated Press: “What he means is that he cares about local businesses and local people. This was a slip in translation.”

But by then, Svanberg had become an Internet meme. The first responses came in on Twitter:

* @NicoleLapin: Did $bp chairman svanberg really just call people of the gulf- fishermen and hotel owners- “small people”?!!
* @tnyCloseRead: How big of him: RT @tpmmedia BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg: “We care about the small people.”
* Even Luke Russert of NBC News weighed in: @RussertXM_NBC: Somebody please make T-shirts that say: “BP: ‘We care about the small people.’ Carl-Henric Svanberg 6/16/10.” I’ll buy the first one.